The Rise of Iwar

During a recent address to the National Defense University on U.S. counterterrorism strategy, President Barack Obama cautioned that "we must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us." His comments hinted at the dramatic transformations of the U.S. military and national security apparatus since September 11, 2001 (9/11). Notable among these have been a new operational emphasis on the threats posed by nonstate actors and individual combatants. This trend represents a major shift from the Cold War era paradigm focused primarily on conventional threats from state-based adversaries. This strategic reprioritization has evolved into new military doctrines focused on the task of defeating networks rather than formations and technical innovations designed for identifying, screening, and targeting individual combatants on the battlefield.